A GLIMPSE INSIDE “LASVIT: THE ART OF BOHEMIAN GLASSMAKING”

Images courtesy of Lasvit

A Living Legacy in Glass

There is a long story behind a piece of glass. It begins with the landscape of Northern Bohemia, generations of knowledge, and a craft that has continued to evolve through experimentation. This fall, that story unfolds in a new 288-page volume from Rizzoli New York, Lasvit: The Art of Bohemian Glassmaking, exploring nearly two decades of Lasvit’s work alongside the centuries-old tradition of Bohemian glassmaking.

Founded by Leon Jakimič in Northern Bohemia in 2007, Lasvit has grown from a Czech glassmaking company into a global design house known for transforming glass into large-scale installations, lighting, and objects. The book connects craft, contemporary design, architecture, and the landscape of Northern Bohemia, placing Lasvit’s practice within the wider cultural story of Czech glassmaking.

Its publication by Rizzoli marks another chapter in Lasvit’s ambition to bring Czech glassmaking into a global cultural conversation.

Across 288 pages and 250 colour illustrations, the story unfolds through three interconnected chapters—Love, Light, and Glass—moving from the roots of the craft to the possibilities of what it can become.

It begins with Love, a return to where Lasvit’s story starts: the origins of the company, the history of Czech glassmaking, and the landscape of Northern Bohemia. Here, the region itself becomes part of the narrative, shaped by generations of glassmakers who developed and passed down their knowledge. Heritage is presented not as something frozen in time, but as a living culture, carried forward through each new generation.

Presented by Interni Cipta Selaras

From these roots, the book moves into Light, where tradition meets Lasvit’s contemporary practice. More than 30 projects and commissions reveal the company’s collaborations with leading figures in architecture and design, including Kengo Kuma, Zaha Hadid, Bořek Šípek, Nendo, Daniel Libeskind, and the Campana Brothers. The journey spans hospitality, cultural spaces, luxury retail, and private interiors, with projects for The Peninsula Paris, Dubai Opera, Four Seasons Hotel Riyadh, Regent Hong Kong, La Mamounia Marrakech, Lotte Tower Seoul, and Sketch London, alongside commissions for Cartier and Tiffany & Co.

Then comes Glass, bringing the reader closer to the material itself. Part practical guide, part small encyclopedia, it explores the techniques that shape the medium—from blowing, moulding, and casting to fused glass, cold working, and glass painting. It is here that the finished pieces reveal another layer of their story: the hands, precision, experimentation, and technical knowledge behind them.

Together, the three chapters create a journey from place and heritage to design and making, showing how an ancient material can remain endlessly open to new ideas.

At the heart of the book is an understanding of heritage as something that stays alive by evolving. Bohemian glass has been shaped by more than seven centuries of experimentation, with early records of glassmaking in the Czech lands dating back to the 13th century. Over generations, Czech glassmakers developed new techniques and established an international reputation for technical skill and artistic innovation.

Lasvit sees its own practice as part of this continuing story. In 2016, the company restored 18th-century Bohemian crystal chandeliers at Palazzo Serbelloni in Milan, reconnecting contemporary craftsmanship with a historic interior. In 2024, it introduced a new approach to artisanal fused glass at an industrial scale, building the largest glass kiln in Europe and developing textured glass sheets using handmade moulds.

These projects reflect a central belief: tradition gains strength not by remaining unchanged, but by being tested, reinterpreted, and carried forward.

“Rizzoli chooses the brands and individuals it publishes with great care. To see Lasvit among them is both an honour and a confirmation of the path we have taken: to bring Czech glassmaking into a global conversation,” says Leon Jakimič, founder of Lasvit. “This book shows where we are on that journey. And why is there still so much further to go.”

Ultimately, Lasvit: The Art of Bohemian Glassmaking is a book about glass, but also about the people and ideas that bring it to life—the hands of glassmakers, the imagination of designers, the heat of the fire, and the way light transforms every surface. A story shaped by centuries of craft, yet always looking toward what comes next.

Written by Amy J. Hughes, Catherine Shaw, Eva Slunečková, Alexandra Střelcová, and Anna Serdarevič Minaříková, the book captures a tradition that continues to move, change, and find new forms.

Arriving October 13, 2026, Lasvit: The Art of Bohemian Glassmaking invites readers to look at glass a little differently—and perhaps see just how much a little light can do.

Book Information

Title: Lasvit: The Art of Bohemian Glassmaking
Publisher: Rizzoli New York
Publication Date: October 13, 2026
Authors: Amy J. Hughes, Catherine Shaw, Eva Slunečková, Alexandra Střelcová, Anna Serdarevič Minaříková
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 288
Illustrations: 250 colour illustrations
Language: English